wine info

Domaine du Grand Arc

Cucugnan, Corbières

Bruno Schenk’s vines are on classic argilo-calcaire soils, with some sandstone, in the wild hills between Cucugnan and Padern, overlooked by the amazing hill-top Cathar castles of Quéribus and Peyrepertuse. It’s surprisingly cool here in these vineyards - Bruno was told when he arrived from Alsace in 1995 that the land was only good for white and rosé - and this gives great finesse and freshness to all the wines. Bruno is now in conversion to organic viticulture. He also makes wine with natural yeasts and without using any sulphur at all until bottling, so he qualifies as a “natural” winemaker. He attributes the deep colours of his reds to this practice.

It’s worth noting that Bruno’s reds keep really well - even the Reserve Grand Arc will be drinking beautifully about six years after the vintage.